Community College president's goal is the best education for the least money

NEWSMAKERS 2012: Barbara Douglass

BY KURT MOFFETT REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

Education reform was a hot topic in 2012, with reports indicating that many young men and women coming out of high school are not ready for life and college. Community colleges are seeing this first hand, with many new students taking remediation classes in basics of math and writing. Barbara Douglass, president of Northwestern Connecticut Community College in Winsted, shared her thoughts on how community colleges can help struggling students in the face of declining revenue from the state.

Q. What are you seeing from students coming into NCCC, in terms of writing, math and other core skills?

A. "Well it's no different from any other community college ... Everybody needs math remediation. I'm certainly not going to blame secondary schools because people could be out for eight years and come back and they need this remediation. It cuts across all strata. It goes way back to beyond high school, it goes to the elementary schools and reading levels and it's no easy task. I just think what community colleges can and will and should do is work more closely with the high schools to at least align competencies of the recent graduates who are coming in.

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